er uncommon merit, had her life inserted in it.'
Thus far Mrs. Barber. We shall now subjoin Mrs. Pilkington's account of
this wonderful genius.

'About two years before this, a young woman (afterwards married to Mr.
Grierson) of about eighteen years of age, was brought to my father[2],
to be by him instructed in Midwifry: she was mistress of Hebrew[3],
Greek, Latin, and French, and understood the mathematics as well as most
men: and what made these extraordinary talents yet more surprizing was,
that her parents were poor, illiterate, country people: so that her
learning appeared like the gift poured out on the apostles, of speaking
all languages without the pains of study; or, like the intuitive
knowledge of angels: yet inasmuch as the power of miracles is ceased, we
must allow she used human means for such great and excellent
acquirements. And yet, in a long friendship and familiarity with her, I
could never obtain a satisfactory account from her on this head; only
she said, she had received some little instruction from the minister of
the parish, when she could spare time from her needle-work, to which she
was closely kept by her mother. She wrote elegantly both in verse and
prose, and some of the most delightful hours I ever passed were in the
conversation of this female philosopher.

'My father readily consented to accept of her as a pupil, and gave her a
general invitation to his table; so that she and I were seldom asunder.
My parents were well pleased with our intimacy, as her piety was not
inferior to her learning. Her turn was chiefly to philosophical or
divine subjects; yet could her heavenly muse descend from its sublime
height to the easy epistolary stile, and suit itself to my then gay
disposition[4].

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Mrs. Barber has preserved several specimens of her talent in this
way, which are printed with her own poems.

[2] Dr. Van Lewen of Dublin, an eminent physician and man-midwife.

[3] Her knowledge of the Hebrew is not mentioned by Mrs. Barber.

[4] Vide MRS. PILKINGTON'S MEMOIRS, Vol. I.

* * * * *

MRS. CATHERINE COCKBURN.

The Revd. Dr. Birch, who has prefixed a life of Mrs. Cockburn before the
collection he has made of her works, with great truth observes, that it
is a justice due to the public, as well as to the memory of Mrs.
Cockburn, to premise some account of so extraordinary a person.
"Posterity, at least, adds he, will be so sollicito